Justin Faulk once scoffed at media trade speculation, the Carolina Hurricanes defenseman saying, "I've been traded a hundred times according to reports."
But the Canes now have officially parted ways with Faulk, a former NHL All-Star and U.S. Olympian. Carolina on Tuesday traded Faulk to the St. Louis Blues, acquiring defenseman Joel Edmundson and offensive prospect Dominik Bokk from the 2019 Stanley Cup champions.
Faulk signed a seven-year contract extension with the Blues that will pay him an average of $6.5 million a year, the Blues announced. The deal could not be completed until those contract terms were finalized. The teams also swapped draft picks _ Carolina getting the Blues' seventh-round selection in 2021 and St. Louis receiving the Canes' fifth-round pick in 2020.
Faulk, 27, had become a fixture in the franchise and on the Canes' blueline the past eight seasons. Drafted by Carolina in 2010, he had grown into a tough, seasoned defenseman whose heavy shot was a big part of the Canes' power play. He also was well-liked by teammates, serving both as a team co-captain with Jordan Staal in 2017-18 and then as an alternate captain, again with Staal, last season as Justin Williams was named captain.
"It's never easy," Canes general manager Don Waddell said in a media conference call Tuesday. "When you're moving pieces, it's not easy. But we felt the return was going to help our hockey club, not only today but certainly down the road."
Faulk was at training camp practice Monday but did not appear at a team autograph session Monday night with Canes' season ticket-holders at PNC Arena, his name plate being pulled. When he then did not participate Tuesday in the practice and intrasquad scrimmage, more questions arose.
Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour, asked about Faulk after practice, said, "He's healthy. I was told to keep him off (the ice). I know it's not a health issue. He's fine."
Faulk is in the final year of a six-year contract that carried an average salary-cap hit of $4.83 million a year but will pay him a $6 million salary in 2019-20. The Canes retained $840,000 in salary, according to CapFriendly.com, which tracks players salaries.
Waddell said negotiations on an extension were not productive with a player due to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
"We got to the point where we could have kept Justin and ride it out and try to continue to sign him or we felt at this point we were getting good value and we should make the decision to move on," Waddell said.
There was talk of a possible trade with the Anaheim Ducks earlier in September and Faulk was peppered with questions about it from the media on the first day of training camp.
"If it happens, it happens to pretty much everybody in the league at some point," Faulk said on Sept. 13.
Edmundson, 26, led the Blues with 68 penalty minutes in 64 games during the 2018-19 regular season. The 6-4, 215-pounder was fourth among Blues blueliners with a plus-8 rating and averaged more than two minutes per game in shorthanded ice time, helping St. Louis' penalty kill rank ninth in the NHL for the season. He appeared in 22 of the Blues' 26 playoff games in helping St. Louis win its first Stanley Cup.
"Having what we already felt was a really strong D and adding Jake Gardiner to the mix late in the summer, we felt between him and (Dougie) Hamilton and (Brett) Pesce to bring the offense we needed a stay-at-home (defenseman)," Waddell said Tuesday. "We're not looking for him to score goals. We need guys who can stop the rush and kill penalties, so this was a different type of defenseman."
Bokk, 19, is in his third Swedish Hockey League season, after totaling 23 points in 47 games for the Vaxjo Lakers in 2018-19. The Blues took the 6-2, 182-pound forward with the 25th overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft.
"Bokk played a big part in this trade," Waddell said. "We all know offense is a big part of the game and it's going to be moving forward. It's a player we liked in the draft year. Bokk, as a former first-round pick, we thought was a huge coup for us to be to land that type of player."
Waddell said the deal with the Blues began to first percolate last week and by the weekend had begun to "ramp up" _ Faulk had a modified no-trade clause in his contract but St. Louis was one of the pre-approved 15 teams. By Tuesday, the deal was done and Waddell indicated it could be the final move made before the season.
"Today I think we're in pretty good shape," he said. "We addressed some of the areas we felt needed addressing. We like our group here and now we've got to get on to business."
In an N&O interview before camp began, Faulk discussed the changes that had been made to the Canes since last season.
"That's the way it goes. It's a business and organizations make decisions based on however they see fit," he said. "A lot of times it's not just one year down the road, it's multiple years down the road. We'll see how it goes."
That was said before the Canes signed Gardiner, a free agent, to a four-year deal with a cap hit of $4.050 million a year. With a glut of defenseman and Faulk set to become a UFA, the trade speculation began again.
Faulk played 559 games for the Canes and experienced his first playoff games this past season as the Canes reached the Eastern Conference finals. He set a career high with 17 goals in 2016-17 and has career totals of 85 goals and 173 assists in regular-season play.
Faulk played 82 games last season, finishing with 11 goals and 24 assists and career-best plus-9 rating. He had a goal and seven assists in 15 playoff games as the Canes won series against the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders before being swept by the Boston Bruins.
"He played a big part in our success last year, going deep in the playoffs," Waddell said.
A native of South St. Paul, Minn., Faulk won a national championship as a freshman at Minnesota-Duluth in 2010-11. He played for Team USA in the World Junior Championship and in World Championships, and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 2014.
"He's a good guy, just one of those guys you like to be around," Waddell said.
